The most haunted place in America
by Tofy-dei
Summary: Jake gets kidnapped by the huntsclan and gets dragged through the country. but when they go through a small town in Wyoming, the local hero smells trouble. What is Danny supposed to do with a dragon! pre PP, after Hong Kong, bad summary.
1. Chapter 1

Jake was startled awake. He was dizzy, nauseous and he felt like the ground was moving. The ground made a turn and that's when he realized he was actually in a vehicle. The young dragon tried to move, but his muscles didn't respond. His eyes opened slowly and the first thing to come into view was his red snout. OK, no need to be worried, he could be in grandpa's van. He watched further away from his nose and chains came into view. Bad sign. Behind those, he managed to see blades. Now he was a little worried. But what really caught his attention were the huntsclan staffs against the wall. OK, time to panic.

-Look, 89! The dragon woke up!

-Dammit, 88. I thought you had sedated him!

-I did! Enough to put down an elephant.

-That's a dragon, you dimwit! It's not nearly enough!

88 and 89? Well, that explained some stuff. Good thing it was them. Jake would probably be able to escape them without them really noticing. But you see, the am drag was so drowsy, he forgot he couldn't really move, so when he tried, all he accomplished was to wobble and crash against the chains. He felt a dart on his side and fell back to the floor.

-At this rate, we'll run out of sedatives. How are we going to get to the west coast?

-Well, it's not ideal, but we may have to slay him before that.

Now that was something he didn't wanna hear. And what did they mean west coast? Where were they? The American Dragon felt the sedatives' effect and his last thought was a plight of help.

Danny paced around his room, while he should have been on his way to school. He glanced back towards his occupied bed, the red creature in it snoring a little. You may wonder, how did the red… dragon end up in his bed? Well, the young halfa had just rescued it from a van with hunting equipment. How? He had been on his way to Tucker's when this suspicious vehicle passing by him made a crashing sound, followed by a silenced shot. Normal humans wouldn't have heard said sound, but luckily for the dragon in his bed, Danny was not a normal human. He phased into the van and watched in awe the red creature that lay on the floor, just as the two hunters on the front discussed slaying it before getting to their destination. It may have been Sam's influence on him, but the ghostly superhero was suddenly inclined to release the being. Of course, this feeling only grew when he heard the creature's mental plea. How he had heard it, Danny didn't know. He had immediately made the creature invisible, intangible and had carried it out of the moving vehicle, shortly debating where he should take it. In the end, he had decided that his house was the safest option for now, as long as he skipped school and made the creature invisible every time his parents rushed into his room screaming 'Ghost'.

And now here he was. He had texted Jazz and Sam, letting them know a non life threatening emergency had claimed his presence and waited. He wasn't even sure if the creature was intelligent. In fact, now that he thought about it, he might just have released a wild man eating beast in his own household. The thought stressed him so much he almost didn't hear someone picking his lock. He dashed towards the magical creature and became invisible, just as his mother entered his room. What was she doing here? Danny held his breath as Maddie came way too close to the bed and the dragon's tail, except the beast silently swept it away. Then, the boy realized his mother was looking for something. But what?

-Now, where is your diary, Danny?

The ghostly teen's eyes widened. She had invaded his privacy to invade his privacy even further?! Oh hell no! His leg elongated enough to reach said notebook and discreetly making it invisible as well. Meanwhile, he took out his phone and texted his sister without even looking at the invisible screen. 'mom's in my room. get rid of her, please.' Not even 5 minutes after he had sent it, his mother's cell phone rang. She picked it up and glanced at the screen, answering right away.

-Jazz? What's wrong?

-ASK HER IF IT'S A GHOST-Sounded his dad's booming voice from downstairs, making the boy cringe.

-Come on, Jack! As if a ghost would actually… wait, really?! Stay right there, Jazzypants! Don't let the ghost boy escape!

And just like that, his mom was gone. Danny sighed in relief stiffening slightly when he heard his mother shout something about getting him a new mattress later. Crud! Had he forgotten to turn the dragon weightless? Well, at least she had thought it was just the mattress. He heard their front door being closed with a slam and he relaxed.

-That was close…

-No kidding, yo! She almost tripped on my tail.

The halfa almost died the rest of the way from surprise, jumping away from the unexpected voice. But the only other being in the room was the red dragon in his bed. Had it just… talked?

The creature seemed to be inspecting him too, skeptically.

-You're not a huntsman. Who are ya?

-Um… the name's Danny Phantom. Who are you?-The dragon's yellow eyes widened.

-You know nothin 'bout the Am Drag, yo?

-The am what now?

-The american.. nevermind. More importantly, what are ya and where am I? I mean, ya kinda give me the feeling that you're a ghost, but ya ain't tryna take over someone with a body. … unless ya already have.-Said the dragon narrowing his eyes.

-Wh/What?! NO! This is my own body, thank you very much. And what's up with the way you speak?

-YO, if ya got a prob with it we can take it outside!

-Wait: what kind of dragon speaks slang?

Jake growled in the back of his throat. This spook was getting on his nerves. He looked around the room, still drowsy from whatever those two idiots had injected him with. The dragon raised an eyebrow at the NASA decorations. Was that a model from the first spaceship to reach the moon?

-Yeah, it is. The amazing Apollo 11. Took me about half a year to complete it.

-Wait, what?

-You asked about my model, I answered.

-I don't… remember asking aloud.

-I'm pretty sure you did. I mean, the only moment we had some sort of telepathic communication was when you were in that shady van begging for help.

-Hey! The am-drag doesn't BEG!

-Right… _somebody, please, help me! anyone!_ Sounds like begging to me.- Said Danny with a smirk, earning another growl and a glare from the dragon. It seems the 'Am-Drag' didn't like ghosts too much.

-Whatever, man. Just tell me where in flames I am so I can fly back home.

Danny's smirk vanished. Oh dear. He hadn't noticed? He hated breaking bad news! He decided to give the dragon a mirror instead. Jake raised an eyebrow at the object and glanced back at the specter, who had a really uncomfortable look on his face. And then it hit him. His wings felt weird. Oh no… His fear was confirmed at first glance. He was not flying anytime soon, with his wing membranes slashed as they were…

-Aw, maaaan.

-Can I do anything?

-Yeah, I could use a phone.

The ghost stared at the dragon. A phone. Danny had never seen a live dragon before and this dude just asked for a _phone_? Who was he gonna call, anyway? The creature seemed to realize what he was thinking and rolled his eyes.

-Ya really think I'm the only dragon in the world?

-Well…

-How long ago did ya die, anyway? Not knowing 'bout the magical world, haunting your former room, …

-Hey! Whoever said I was haunting anything?! Also...what do you mean, magical world?

Jake sighed and let his head hang. He took a deep breath and started explaining everything about the magical community around the world. The dragon's duty, the different kind of beings there were, the normal characteristics of each one and so on. By the time he had finished, several hours had passed and the ghostly boy in front of him couldn't stop gaping.

-Everyone gets freaky 'bout ghosts, tho.

-Well, then no wonder I haven't seen any of this creatures. Amity Park has been the most haunted city in America for a year now.

-WOAH, WOAH, WOAH! I'M WHERE?! Isn't Amity in Wyoming?!

-Uhh, yeah. Why, where you from?- Jake's mouth wouldn't close.

-... nyc…

Danny flinched. That was a long way to go with slashed wings. The front door opened, making the halfa jump. He ran to his door and as two rings of light transformed him into human he called back to the dragon, telling him to hide in his closet and be inconspicuous, before slamming his door shut. Jumping down two steps at a time, he reached the front door just in time to see his sister closing it. She yelped at his sight.

-Danny? Where were you today? First you say you got held up by something and then you tell me to get mom out of your room! Please, tell me you weren't masturbating all day. Cause if you were, I'm gonna be so pissed at you!

-Wha… I wasn't masturbating! Something really came up!

-Which would also be true in case of masturbation.

-Jazz, for the last time: I WASN'T PLAYING WITH MYSELF!

-True. He only rescued me.

The ghostly hero jumped for the fourth time that day. He turned in midair, seeing a boy his age at the base of the stairs. The boy had black hair with green highlights, almond eyes, he was kinda on the short side and he was wearing blue cargo pants along with a red jacket. The weirdest thing, though, was that this kid had the dragon's voice.

Jake inspected the Fenton siblings. He had deduced their surname based on everything in the house labeled 'Fenton something' And had also figured out this kid's parents were hunters of some sort, if the heavy amount of advanced weaponry laying around the house was anything to go by. The guy's sister looked pretty normal, though. He walked up to her and offered his hand.

-My name's Jake Long. Nice to meet ya.

-Jasmine Fenton. Likewise. What do you mean my brother rescued you?

-I was being kidnapped. Y'see, my dad makes a considerable amount of money, plus my mom owns a very successful catering business. Guess the creeps wanted to make easy money.

-Huh. And why did my brother not take you to the cops yet? From what he texted me, you were rescued at seven am.

Jake was at a loss for words. He had no problem revealing himself to a magical creature, but this was a human chick as far as he knew. And Danny had transformed into a human, so it was safe to assume that his magic was a secret.

-Because he found out, Jazz.-Was the ghost's helpful response.

Jake stared. What had he found out? The sudden shriek that came out of the guy's sister hurt his sensitive dragon ears. She then proceeded to grab the young New Yorker by the neck of his jacket and glare down in a menacing manner.

-Are you blackmailing him?!

-Wha? No! What's there to blackmail him with?

-The fact that he's half ghost, for example.

His almond eyes widened. What was even a half ghost? For the life of him, he was certain neither G nor Foo had ever mentioned such a thing. He glanced at the apparently only HALF magical creature, who just nodded once and the dragon understood. This guy was going to keep his scaly secret, but he had to keep up the act.

-Yo, I don't care nothin bout that. The guy saved my ass! I just wanna go home. Can I use your phone?... Please?

The ginger narrowed her eyes, inspecting him, until she decided he was telling the truth. She let go of his jacket and guided him to the nearest phone in the house. Jake sighed nervously. After all, he didn't know how long he had been missing. He picked up the piece of technology and dialed his own number. After a few tones, his mom picked up.

-Hey mom! Sup!

-JAKE! OMG, ARE YOU OK? WHERE ARE YOU? WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL! WE WERE WORRIED SICK! -the young dragon cringed as he heard the Fentons giggle behind him.

-It's OK, mom. I'm fine now. I'm in Amity Park, Wyoming. As for why I haven't called… I'll have to tell ya later. Can gramps come pick me up? I can't really _wing it._

He heard her gasp. Thank god she had understood the double meaning in his sentence. She asked again where he was and after assuring he had his cellphone on him, they said their goodbyes and the am drag was embarrassed again when she said she loved him. He hung up after a quick answer and tried to keep his blush down as he turned to look at the smirking half ghost.

- _Love you too_? Someone's a mama's boy.

-Like you're one to talk, Mr. _I go on secret camping trips with mom._ -retaliated his sister. Well, if Jake hadn't liked the guy's sister before, he did now.

The other boy blushed a weird shade of violet and dismissed the conversation, in favor of coming up with a believable story for Jake being there. Said boy was glad Jazz wanted as little attention as them.


	2. Chapter 2

-So! Jake, Danny tells me you're penpals.

-That's right, Mrs Fenton. We met up in FaceSpace.

-And you're from New York?

-DO YOU BELIEVE IN GHOSTS?

Jake had to restrain from laughing, Danny being too occupied slamming his head against the table at his father's outburst. The young dragon frowned though. What was he supposed to answer? His duty as protector of magical creatures dictated that he deny the existence of any magic at all, but he knew for a fact that humans in this city were extremely aware of the existence of spirits. He chose to shrug, considering people wouldn't really expect him to believe if he hadn't seen a ghost yet. The couple gasped and proceeded to explain everything they knew about the creatures, making their son frown, cringe and even squirm uncomfortably, Jake's keen eyes noticed. The young dragon wondered why though. Everything the Fentons said made sense and the only ghosts the boy had encountered had shown the behavior the couple had described. Perhaps he was worried about becoming like a ghost. They finished eating and proceeded to the ghost boy's room. As soon as the door closed, though, said boy flipped out.

-I can't believe they still think I'm a criminal! Have I not saved enough people? And they had the nerve to repeat that ghosts have no feelings whatsoever! How can they be so blind?!

-Whoa, buddy. Chillax! It's not like they know it's you.

-What do you mean?

-They think you're a normal ghost. Ya know, like the rest of'em?

-Wait. Did they convince you with all that crap? Fyi, Mr. Dragon, ghosts do have feelings. In fact, some are even kinder than humans!

-Yo, easy. Don't go all Paranormal Activity on me. It's not like y'all have been a bed of roses for me either.

-... You have experience with ghosts?

-Yeah. Just this one time, a buncha ghosts were tryna take over a buncha kids. Couldn't let that happen.

-Well, that explains why you don't like us... THEM!-Jake chuckled.

-Ain't ya a ghost yoself?

-As I already said: HALF ghost. Ghosts call us halfas, which means they don't really consider us their kind either.

The dragon shook his head and backtracked. Us? There was more than just this one creature, ''dead, but not quite''? Said creature didn't seem to notice his slip up, so the magical protector let it be. This was going to bother him all night already. He realized the ghost boy was still talking and started to pay attention, noticing he was explaining how the ghosts that attacked humans were considered criminals by the other members of the Ghost Zone, whatever that was. If this kid had all this information about ghosts, then he would gladly take it back to gramps.

What both boys didn't know, was that 88 and 89 had noticed the lack of scales in the back of their van… halfway through Montana. And they were going back road 90, retracing their steps to see where they had possibly lost the dragon. I mean, it was a motherflippin DRAGON. How hard could it be? They just hoped they didn't have to go through that place near Casper again. It had given them the creeps.

Jake stretched on the mattress. In the end he had fallen asleep, despite what he had initially thought. He looked at the fake fluorescent stars on the ceiling and noticed the familiar array. Wow. This guy was a total space nerd, even making actual constellations in his room.

-Let me guess, you sleep alone. -said the ghost in the room. Jake turned to see the guy with bags under his eyes, a glare meeting his own. -Not only do you smell like a dragon, you also snore like one! I had to get up to fight Skulker of all ghosts and when I came back, I couldn't go back to sleep because of all the noise! How does your family stand it?!

-Well, my dad got used to it, but I DO come from a dragon bloodline.

Danny smacked his forehead. Of course the guy's family wouldn't mind! They were all dragons!... Wait.

-Your dad had to get used to it?

-Yeah. He's um… human.

-Oh. -silence filled the room.-Does he know?

-He found out… last summer.-the blue eyed boy sat up.

-He didn't know for the better part of fourteen years?

-Sixteen. They didn't have me right away.

Danny wanted to comment. He desperately did. But telling a guy his mother must be heartless wasn't very nice, so he shut up. For all he knew she must have had her reasons.

Both boys got up and changed, before going down for breakfast. As soon as they entered the kitchen, though, two sets of lashed eyes glared at the asian kid. He laughed nervously and apologized to the sleep deprived women. Jake noted that the younger Fentons grabbed cereal instead of the toast, bacon and eggs their mother was offering and shortly wondered why, until he saw the eggs had developed sentience and were riding the toast and waving the bacon as if it were swords, fighting the other eggs to their death. He realized it must have been a daily occurrence since the Fentons barely reacted, only clapping when there was just one portion of egg exclaiming its victory, before Maddie shot it. It was safe to say he was having cereal too. The three minors left for school, Jazz going ahead and the non human boys taking a detour. Danny took the opportunity to explain his routine around ghost attacks and to tell the dragon about his friends.

-So this Tucker guy and Sam girl know what you are.

-Yup, they were there when it happened.

-Wait. What happened?

-I got in an accident with my parents' technology. That's what made me the way I am now.

-WOAH! Let me get this straight. You a synthetic magical creature?

The other boy seemed to ponder about it for a while before nodding uncertainly. Well this kept getting better and better. How was Jake supposed to explain this to the council? True, they respected him more ever since he and Rose trapped the Dark Dragon in Hong Kong, but humans had developed artificial magical creatures under his own snout! There had to be a consequence, right? Right then, they reached a house from which a dark skinned boy was running, telling his mother he'd be back for dinner, probably. The guy slowed down in front of them and patted Danny's back in greeting. He glanced at the young dragon and stretched out his hand.

-Hi! I'm Tucker Foley. Danny's best friend.

-Nice to meet ya. I'm Jake Long, Danny's newest friend.-a snort came from his left and both boys turned to look at the halfa.

-Dude, with the way you snore, you're nobody's friend.

Danny noted how the almond eyes turned yellow and slitted in a second and tensed. He had only meant it as a joke! Why was this guy getting so worked up? Tucker chuckled a little.

-Why are you scared, dude? This guy's even shorter than Mikey.

-Tuck, I'm shorter than Dash and I could still beat him to a pulp… if I wanted to. This guy probably knows kung fu! Plus, I bet he would actually try to send me to the afterlife if I bother him too much.

-Yeah, ya gotta watch your mouth, Casper.

Danny saw the way Tucker paled, asking him non verbally if this guy he just met knew. He nodded once and his friend's green eyes hardened. He turned the asian boy away from his friend, but as soon as his mouth opened the african american was stopped.

-If you gonna give me the threat speech, then you late, yo. His sister beat ya to it.

-It's ok, Tuck. He's cool.

-Cool? The guy practically threatened you!

-Only because that's the third time this morning someone's mentioned the sounds I make while asleep.

-... Ok, yeah. I can see how that could be annoying.

Danny gasped mockingly, saying Tucker had taken Jake's side dramatically and running off not too fast in the direction of their next destination: Sam's mansion. The dark boy chuckled while shaking his head and motioned the New Yorker to follow him. They arrived at the extremely posh mansion, catching up with the halfa and waited. Several yells were heard from the inside, making the dragon wonder what was going on in there. All of a sudden, the door opened violently and a dark haired girl stormed out. Jake noticed her goth style clashed with the pink dress her mother was still trying to shove in her arms and immediately understood what the screaming had been about. The girl, Sam he assumed, pulled a knife out of her right combat boot and threw it at the pink offence, making a hole in it and her mother shrieked. The girl ran towards her friends and pulled from them without stopping for a couple of streets, where they finally got a chance to catch their breath.

-By the way, who's the shrimp? -Jake flinched.

-Yo! I'm no shrimp!

-Sam, this is Jake. He's going to stay with me for a few days, he knows about Phantom and he won't be a problem. Now, if all of you could just start walking again, we need to be at school in about ten minutes. I don't want a needless tardy if I can help it.

-Danny, who are you trying to fool? You get tardies every other class because of ghosts and WHY THE HELL DOES THIS KID KNOW ABOUT IT?!

-HEY! I'M YOUR AGE, THANKYA VERY MUCH!

-Really? But you're so short!

Jake was about to lose it. He was very tempted to set this girl's dyed hair on FIRE, but he had to show some restraint. He couldn't just show this new magical creature that the human concept of dragons was anything but false. The young dragon looked at the halfa pointedly and said creature tensed.

-Sam, I'd stop commenting on his lack of height if I were you.-Black eyes turned yellow.

-THAT'S IT! YOU, ME, IN THE AIR, NOW!

-You can't even fly!

The boy turned to look at the tallest one in the group weirdly. Tucker, was it? Something in his comment itched at the back of his very angry brain. It wasn't the fact that he had just challenged a creature he knew he couldn't take on. It also wasn't the fact that he had practically outed his secret to two humans he had just met. No. This actually hurt. That's when he remembered his wings were trashed. His mood deflated in a second. ''A downed dragon is a dead dragon'' he had heard once and the word stang like a poisoned arrow shot by Rose. Danny saw his defeated attitude and slowly patted him on the back. Black eyes met his and he signaled for them to move.

The group of four arrived at school with time to spare. Team phantom had received the redacted version of the last day, so that Sam wouldn't try to claw this guy's eyes out and they seemed content with that. Danny took Jake to the main office to get a permit for him or something and they went leisurely to class. Mr. Lancer was already there, looking at them with a raised eyebrow, until the ghostly boy handed him the permit and the passes. Said professor sighed and told them to sit, before continuing with the class and totally lulling his students (or at least Danny) to sleep.

Jake marvelled at Danny's resilience. The guy could be the deadest human one second and the liveliest ghost the next. And these ghosts were persistent, Jake could tell you that. The one that called himself the Box Ghost had shown up every period until now, when one named Technus had literally possessed the TV and called upon everyone's cellphone to attack. He had to give it to the guy. Not even he had this much work… and he was THE AMERICAN DRAGON. He watched as the white haired ghost got punched through a wall and flinched. That was definitely gonna hurt in the morning. A green beam made its way towards the adversary and the being fell to the floor, where a light blue beam captured him and pulled him into the thermos. The other teenagers cheered the Phantom's name, who kinda saluted and vanished into thin air. If only Jake were allowed to do that… or capable, whatever. He noticed the raven haired version of Danny slip into existence behind his friends and approached.

-Nice job up there. Gotta say, you have it rough.

-Yeah, no kidding. Today has been hellish. The Box Ghost usually stays in the thermos, though… he must have levelled up. Urgh, that means I finally have to ask him politely to stay away and probably bribe him with boxes or hook him up with the Lunch Lady.-he shuddered at that.

-Who?

-She only shows up when someone messes with the menu, so I doubt you'll meet her.

-... Did you just really make a pun about meat?

The other boy grinned mischievously. The humans had warned him about Danny thinking he was some sort of pun master, but to think he'd let them slip like this… perhaps it was a disease. The dragon had to wonder. They joined the multitude going back into the building to get their stuff, school being cancelled due to the violent fight that had just taken place. Team phantom, along with Jake walked peacefully towards Sam's house, where they all entered and upon reaching the goth's room, the humans turned to the halfa, their arms crossed.

-Take off your shirt, Danny.

They all said in unison. It freaked the scales out of Jake how coordinately they had done so, but it seems it was slightly usual for the other boy, who only sighed, rolling his eyes and exclaimed it wasn't 'that bad'. His friends and sister, however turned him around by force and pulled his shirt over his head, exposing the bleeding mess that was his back. Jake grimaced at the amount of wounds, scars and dents in the flesh. Had this guy broken a few ribs or something?! Jake watched as the three humans cleaned every wound, straightened every bone and stitched every gash, before finally bandaging the ghost's torso. He had flinched most of the time, while Danny barely blinked.

-Guys, you know that's not necessary. It all fixes itself at night.

-Maybe, -answered Tucker- but you agonize until then, dude.

The young dragon stared in disbelief at the interaction. This guy had some serious healing abilities if all that could heal in just one night! I mean, Jake healed fast thanks to his dragon blood, but even he would need about a week to get past all of THAT.

Danny proceeded to grab the thermos and call upon the annoying blue ghost in the overalls, said ghost showing up from behind, phasing through a wooden box. Jake watched in amazement how the halfa reasoned with the specter. He was actually bribing him with a bunch of square things, just to keep the guy out of the living realm. The red eyes turned to him all of a sudden and Jake got the unnerving feeling that the blue ghost instantly knew he wasn't human. Also, getting stared at with dead eyes was extremely creepy. The ghost's attention went back to the halfa boy at the mention of someone else.

-Lunch Lady? Who's that?

-Well, she's another ghost. One of the first ones I fought against. I get the feeling you'd get along. -answered Danny trying to hide his disgust.

The blue spirit seemed to ponder about it for a while. He agreed after a while and they made plans to meet in the Ghost Zone on Saturday, after which he left with a last yell of 'beware'. Jake was finally able to breathe calmly again. And yet, he felt trouble wouldn't stop coming.


	3. Chapter 3

_Hello! it's me! the author! i thank you all for all the love! seriously! i got home from work and there were already 5 favourites and 9 followers! i was so hyped i could barely sleep XD anyway! here's the next chapter! ON WITH THE STORY!_

* * *

Jake woke up feeling nauseous. There was a knot in his gut and his eyes wouldn't stop shining. This usually meant bad news. The young dragon sat up, noticing the lack of ghost in the room and he eventually walked towards the kitchen. Once there, he saw the white haired halfa laying on the ceiling.

-What are you doing?

-I slept here.

-But… didn't you say your parents don't know?

-Yeah, but they're not home. They left last night.

The dragon frowned. Shouldn't he be at least a little worried? Danny floated down and transformed right before touching the ground, landing softly next to the table with the cereal already in his bowl.

-Want some?

-Sure.

They sat down silently, munching on their breakfast tiredly. They heard a door slamming shut and rapid steps down the stairs, right before seeing Jazz running into the kitchen with tangled red hair and a ballerina still in her hand. They watched as the teenaged girl worked fast in preparing herself a cup of coffee, brushing her hair and applying some makeup, all at the same time. The blue eyed boy swallowed what he was chewing.

-Overslept?

-Didn't hear my alarm.

-That's unusual.

-Had to wear earplugs because of SOMEONE.

Jake could actually feel the daggers digging into his back with the way she was glaring at him. Too bad there was absolutely nothing he could do about the snoring. It was in his nature!

-Where are mom and dad?

-They left late last night. -that made her stop in her tracks.

-And they're not back yet?

-They probably found ectoplasmic trace or something.

Jazz had stopped all motion, Jake being practically able to see the gears turning inside her head. She shook her head and reached for her cell. It never hurt to make sure. Both boys sharpened their ears to listen in on the conversation, Jake having to cover it to hide his red skin. The phone rang a couple of times, until Maddie picked up.

-Jazz? What's wrong?

-We woke up and you guys weren't there. Good morning, by the way. -she said sarcastically. -We were worried! Where are you?!

-Oh, Jazzypants, we're so sorry. The guys in white called last night and we've been in their lab ever since. We didn't realize it was morning already.

Jake noted how both Fentons tensed at the mention of those… guys in white? He looked at Danny questioningly and the spirit mouthed 'tell you later'.

-We'll be back for lunch, so don't worry. Have a nice day at school, you three!

And after that, Mrs. Fenton hung up. Jazz shook her head and sighed, pocketed her cell, waved goodbye and went out the door. Danny, in change, turned to the dragon and explained his encounters with the GIW. Jake was horrified. The government knew about ghosts?! That meant they weren't too far from finding out about the rest of them! He had to do something ASAP.

However, the Guys In White should have been the least of their worries, considering the two remaining members of the huntsclan were currently at the entrance of Amity Park, having discarded any other location.

-This is so like you, 88. You just had to lose a dragon that was safely tucked in a van.

-Hey! You lost him too! Don't try to pin this on me! Besides, how the hell did he get out?! The door was locked!

-I don't know and I don't care. We gotta find it if we want to spill its blood by the Fremont Troll in Seattle.

-Why do we wanna do that again?

89 slammed his head against the wheel and sighed.

-I told you already. It's to bring back the Huntsclan. The Fremont Troll is the only thing that has the magical ability to cancel out a wish to the aztec skulls.

-But I thought wishes to the aztec skulls couldn't be undone.

-That is exactly why this place is so well guarded by the dragons in the west. Luckily, they put some idiot green dragon with brown stripes in charge and we might get past him.

The dark skinned huntsboy frowned, crossing his arms. Ever since 89 had hit puberty, he had become a real jerk. Well, he just had to wait. Black boys were usually taller and he'd use that to his advantage when the time came. He just wished it'd be soon.

A couple of streets away, the Fenton couple wiped their foreheads clean as they finished putting the last screw in the machine the GIW had commissioned. True, it had been inconvenient, yes, it had been last minute and of course they found it weird that the organization had specifically asked them not to tell the children about it. But oh well, it was business. Agents O and K walked towards the machine.

-Are you sure it works, ?-Maddie scoffed.

-Of course it works! We tested it on that ghostly dog a couple of days ago.

-And you're saying it completely stripped it off its powers.

-Absolutely. So much so, it became weak and gooey, almost turning completely into ectoplasm, hadn't the ghost boy interfered.

Agent O turned towards her.

-And you didn't shoot it?

-We tried. but the ghost boy seems to know every weakness to our old tech. We've been keeping the blueprints on ourselves in case it's been snooping around in our lab.

Agent K nodded in understanding. They shook hands with the couple and payed them off, letting them leave the facilities after a full body scan. As soon as they left, Jack released a suppressed shudder.

-Don't know about you, Mads, but I got the oddest feeling of foreboding in there.

-Yeah, me too. But what could go wrong? Only a ghost would be affected by that ray and they're all the same. Odd manifestations of ectoplasmic energy and post-human consciousness. Nothing else. I don't care that it seemed as if Invisobill was crying when he got that ghost dog away from us.

Jack frowned. The ghost boy had looked anguished when he found the almost undone dog. But he had seen no tears. He had been too busy shaking off the memory of Danny finding his dead goldfish when he was 8 at the time. He wrapped his left arm around the shaking shoulders of his wife and walked her to the GAV, ready to go home and take a really long nap.

Jake glanced over his shoulder again. He couldn't shake the feeling of someone watching him. Seriously! What was up with this hell hole?! Ghosts roamed every corner, ghostbusters shot random people on the street, and he had the weirdest feeling that the cameras followed Danny's every step. How could people even live here? Though the thing bothering him the most was the absolute lack of magical creatures. It was unnatural. Even a hellhound would be acceptable at this point. Or Morty! He hoped the school would be safe ground from this paranoia he was getting, but fate wasn't on his side today. As they were picking out books from Danny's locker, people screamed and ran down the hall, dragging the group until every single student was in the gym. They had gotten the gist of it, they were under attack. However, Danny hadn't picked up a ghost during the run. Team phantom asked around, but no one seemed to know exactly what was going on. Suddenly, a green ray hit the ceiling, making the student body crouch in reflex. A few girls sobbed in fear, Paulina being one of them and Danny looked around, until he found the source of the panic. Two boys, one white, one black, both in purple ninja suits were aiming magical staffs at the students.

Jake swallowed hard. He hadn't expected these idiots to attack a human school in the hopes of finding him and he started to freak out once realization hit him. He had crossed paths with 88 and 89 in his human form once or twice and if he was recognized, he was toast. He looked at the halfa helplessly, just after 89 had literally looked him in the eye. What would he do if he was recognized? He couldn't dragon up here. He couldn't give his identity away to these two, either. The young dragon had to find a diversion quickly.

-Hey! You! The one in the red jacket!-Oh oh-Don't I know you?

He realized the casper high jacket was red just in time and played dumb. Perhaps one of the jocks would feel the center of attention.

-Don't ignore me, asian boy in the red jacket!

-Who? Me?- asked Kwan from a little away.

-No! The short one that has nothing notorious apart from the green highlights in his hair!

-Hey! Isn't he Rose's boyfriend from New York?-Shit.

-What are you talking about? I don't have a girlfriend. And I've never met a girl named Rose.- Well, it was technically true and false at the same time.

-Don't play dumb! Are you or are you not from New York?!-Insisted 89. Jake swallowed hard when all eyes were on him. What was he supposed to say?

88 and 89 made way towards the group of … three? The asian boy wondered shortly where Danny was, before the two huntsboys closed the distance between them.

-You are! What an awful coincidence that we happen to lose a new york dragon and you are here.-said 88. Time for some damage control.

-Pff! Dragon? You actually believe in that sort of crap?- both huntsmen narrowed their eyes.

-Yeah, what the hell, man? I mean, I get ghosts, but dragons? This isn't a fairytale.-Added Tucker.

-What's next? Are you gonna ask where the last unicorn is?- yelled Sam, getting the rest of the students to laugh.

88 growled and shot near them, making the laughter die down. They could have been loons in the eyes of Casper High, but they were loons with weapons. Jake flinched as he saw the ray had ripped sam's leggins near the ankles.

-What's wrong, dragon? Why are you still here?

-Can't fly with slashed wings?-said 89 sarcastically, making Jake growl.

-Yeah! You don't act so tough when you're surrounded by humans.

Sam and Tucker looked back and forth between their captors and the stranger they had just met yesterday. They were pretty sure dragons didn't exist in real life, Dora and Aragon being an exception, since they were dead. But what if what these guys were saying was true? Was Jake a dragon? Was that how he had found out about Danny? All of these questions ran through their minds just as an echoey throat was cleared.

-I hope you didn't mean me, 'cause I would be pretty insulted.

The huntsboys looked up quickly, seeing a white haired boy with glowing green eyes and a flicking spectral tail. Aka, a ghost. They stared in horror as the spectre approached them floating slowly getting close enough they could see the death in its eyes. The feral grin that appeared in its features made them shiver.

- **Boo**

88 and 89 could be seen screaming and running out of the school, tripping over each other in their hurry to leave the haunted town behind. No clan was worth going against something they couldn't kill, because it was dead to begin with. They could have lost their souls!

Danny chuckled a little, before downright snorting and spinning unwillingly in place as the uncontrollable laughter left his mouth. He turned to the humans in the room.

-Well, that was quick. Stay safe, citizens!

And with that, he vanished. Jake just stared. The guy had just used the fear of ghosts in his favour. And he totally got away with it. The students cheered the name of the phantom as they leisurely left the room to go to class, leaving team Phantom and Jake behind. The latter helped the goth girl get on her feet and let her use him as a crutch, walking her to the infirmary. God knows he knew how much that ray stung. Danny met them halfway there.

-You guys ok?-he asked slightly out of breath.

-Well, I could be better, but it's not the worst I've been.-Answered lightheartedly the wounded girl. Jake just flinched in guilt.

-Yeah. The more pressing matter is: Why didn't you tell us Jake was just like Dora?-Asked Tucker in return.

Danny started sweating profusely, while Jake just wondered who Dora was. He noticed the look in the ghost's face a little later and as he tried to figure out what the expression meant, the other two had surrounded him. He glanced from one to the other and realized what those looks meant. They had totally figured out their kidnappers had been after him. Perhaps being so close to a person with a similar secret to his own had made them really perceptive. Jake could just swear in his head.

-So, how did you become like this?

-Yeah. Did a radioactive lizard bite you, or something?

-Perhaps an experiment by a mad scientist?

-Oh! Oh! Are you an alien?!

There was a lot of staring involved, but in the end, the young dragon just started laughing.

-An ALIEN. Really? You kidding, yo? Ok-he cleared his throat- listen: I'm not allowed ta tell ya. But since ya got it aaaaalll figured out, I ain't gonna deny it. I AM a dragon, but this is all hush hush. Not a word out of ya. Or I'll be forced to wipe your brains clean. Got that?

Both humans nodded quickly and they continued on their way towards the infirmary in silence. That is, until Tucker opened his mouth.

-How do you look?-he asked.

-Yeah, are you green?-continued the goth.

-What size? Like a pocket dragon?- Jake growled.

-Do you go bald?

-Stop it with the questions!

Danny just laughed wholeheartedly. It was rather funny comparing the real image of Jake, 500 kg of pure muscle, red scales and styled hair, to the dragon his friends were depicting. They couldn't have been more wrong.


	4. Chapter 4

_Sorry for the late update, guys. hope you enjoy :)_

Jake stretched on the chair in front of Danny's computer. The halfa had lent it to him to video chat with Trixie and Spud, so he was currently signing in. The usernames of his friends showed up in green and he clicked on them. Spud's face showed up on the screen, immediately followed by Trixie's.

-Jake, my man! Where have you been?! You went MIA like, a week ago!

-Yeah. Just be glad you ain't here rite now, or else I'd be punching yo face in!

Jake sweatdroped at the threat.

-Glad to see you too, Trix.

-But seriously Jakey, where are you? We've been worried sick.

-I'm in Amity Park, I'm ok. I had been kidnapped by 88 and 89, but the local hero rescued me.

-Whoa, wait a minute.- interrupted Spud.- Isn't Amity Park haunted and in no way inhabited by magical creatures?

-Yup.

-Who in their right mind saves a dragon from professional dragon hunters in a normal human town?

-Spud, this place is far from normal. Every single human here knows bout the existence of ghosts. It rivals the amount of magic in New York.

-Meaning…

-... A ghost did.

Both his friends gasped. Considering the only time they had faced ghosts hadn't been pleasant, it was reasonable, really. He told them the whole story, avoiding Danny's secret, for obvious reasons, and ended up hiding a yawn.

-Dude, you look tired.-Said Spud from his room in New York. Jake mock glared at him.

-Of course he's tired! He got kidnapped, he's stuck in a ghost town,

-And to top it all off, my wings are tryna heal, using up most of my energy.

-Speaking of, how bad do they look, Jakey?

The young dragon answered nonverbally, letting said appendages sprout from his back. The holes in his membranes had shrunk into deep gashes, meaning the skin was already forming back, but it was still seethrough. The boy reached one of his wings forward to examine the wounds and stated he would probably be able to glide away if needed, but only to be used as a last resort since it would definitely reopen the holes in them. Both his friends grimaced, before his female friend yelled at him for showing instead of telling. Jake laughed sheepishly and just as he was about to hide them, a disembodied voice said:

-Well, they looked far worse two days ago.

-Danny! Not cool, yo! You said you wouldn't overhear!

Jake's friends gasped as a boy appeared out of thin air. He looked pretty normal though. Black hair, blue eyes, jeans and a t-shirt. The boy apologized, saying he had only meant to go in, grab the thermos and go away, but after seeing his guest showing his wounds, he had decided to examine them too. The american dragon rolled his eyes and turned to the monitor.

-Danny, this are my friends, Trixie and Spud. Guys, this is Danny, my ghost-host.

-Sup.

-Wait, you really a ghost? You don't look like one.

-HOLY SMOKES! HE VANISHED INTO SIGHT!

Danny was about to correct the beanie wearing boy, when Jake just stopped him, informing him that it didn't really matter, right before asking why he had shown himself like that.

-Well… I kinda figured: My friends know about you, so…

-Say WHA?! Jake!- shouted Trixie half worried, half angry.

-Relax, Trix. They're cool. Sides, they ain't seen no dragon yet. As long as they think dragons are cat sized green lizards with wings, the magical community won't mind.

Spud snorted, repeating the description. Trixie was about to go back on topic of Danny not looking like a ghost, but stopped mid sentence when a wisp of blue vapor came out of the halfa's mouth.

-And that's my cue to go. When you're finished here you can meet up with Tuck and Sam if you want to.

-Sure thing. See ya.- And upon bidding goodbyes, the young ghost disappeared.

-Wait! Where did he go?!- Yelled Spud, looking for the ghost frantically.

-That was his ghost sense. It means there's a ghost nearby and he went to fight it.

-Woah, woah. You telling me you get to see a ghost fighting ghost in action and you here talking to us instead?-Trixie raised a skeptical eyebrow.-Just go. And tape it while you at it, we wanna watch that later.

Jake stared, looking between his two friends, who seemed to agree he was sorta stupid is he just sat here while the action was outside. He grinned and said he'd see them soon, before logging out. He ran down the stairs, snatching the unused skateboard Danny owned on his way and made his way towards the flashy light show some blocks away.

Danny collided with a building. He was not happy. Not only had this minotaur turned the city into a labyrinth, he also had a mean punch. Tucker and Sam were on top of said building, calculating his enemy's weak points and getting a couple of shots in respectively. The young halfa dodged upwards an ectoblast heading straight to his chest, landing his feet on the wall having used his hands as pivot point, and ricocheted off said wall towards his adversary. He smashed his fist against the bullheaded enemy's stomach and the beast rolled on the street a couple of times. It growled while it glared at Danny with violet eyes, floating to its feet as it did, until one of its horns fell to the ground. Both ghosts stared at it and the young one snorted before downright laughing in its face.

-Danny! Watch out!

Sam's warning came a little late, considering the halfa ended on the floor, green steam rising from his body. The minotaur had gotten him good. Danny jumped to his feet and stood ready for another attack, before launching several ectoblasts of his own. His eyes glowed icy blue and several ice spears shot out from in front of him, each heading for one of the weakspots in his enemy.

Jake jogged towards the two humans on the rooftop.

-Hey, what did I miss?

-Minotaur ghost. High resilience, strong, fast. Danny is using most of his energy in that attack.

The asian boy glanced down and shuddered, making Sam frown.

-Don't tell me you're afraid of heights.

-What? No! It's the ice spears that give me the creeps.

-Oh, right! You're a firetype!

The amdrag rolled his eyes and watched on. Danny had managed to cage the minotaur in a small icy labyrinth. Oh, the irony. He was waiting for the ghost to fly into sight, aiming his thermos at the place he predicted the specter would show. However, the mythical being popped out somewhere else and Danny, being too tired to react quickly, was about to get beaten to a pulp.

Sam and Tucker yelled his name in unison as the enemy pinned the halfa against a wall and Jake could only watch as a green ray hit the minotaur from behind. The creature howled in pain, falling to its knees immediately, its aura flickering out of existence. Danny's eyes widened as he watched his adversary contort unnaturally and look up pleadingly. He was at a loss. What had hit it? He stared into those helpless eyes as the reddish ghost became green, before finally melting out of existence.

He gasped at what he had just seen, before raising his sight slowly, looking straight at the source of its dismay. The Guys In White. With the invention his parents had used against Cujo. Crud. He had no energy to escape, barely keeping his ghost form. Unless some miracle happened, he was doomed. Danny closed his eyes.

Sam and Tucker were freaking out. There was no stopping the guys in white when they were up on a rooftop. Danny was cornered.

-Tuck, quick! See if you can hack that thing!

-I'm trying, Sam! There's no networking in that thing! It's useless!

The goth looked down towards their friend. Their only option would be to reveal their position, shooting at the machine. She took aim, but a sudden wind over her head snapped her out of it. Tucker had also stilled.

-Was that a dragon?

They looked behind themselves and noticed only one thing. Jake was nowhere to be seen.

Danny heard the order to fire with his eyes shut. Tears slowly fell from his eyes. This was not how he had wanted it all to end. His mind showed him various memories of his family, his friends, his ghostly allies, even the dead goldfish for some reason. He had forgotten all about that fish. Sad that his parents wouldn't have a corpse to bury, unlike him back then. And how were Sam and Tuck supposed to explain his sudden death without a corpse to show? He realized after a moment of torment that the pain never came. Instead, a bunch of gasps met his ears. He slowly opened one eye, wondering what had saved his afterlife. A red back with greenish spikes and slashed wings were the first things he noticed.

Jake stared at the green stain on his scales. It clashed with the red in an atrocious way. He checked out what was meant to be the threat and saw a bunch of panicking humans, wondering why their dispositive hadn't worked. Perhaps because it was meant to hurt ghosts and he wasn't one. Ha. That definitely didn't hurt one bit. The american dragon decided that the least these humans knew about what they were seeing, the best, and thus, he would pretend to be feral. He roared menacingly, spreading his wings for further effect. Sure, they hurt, but no one had to know.

Some of the agents ran as fast as their white suits would allow them, others just raised different weaponry at the red monstrosity before them. It was curious how nothing seemed to hurt this ghost, which just brushed off the ectosensitive dispositives and for a second, agent O thought they were in presence of a real dragon. He was knocked out by the red tail soon after though. Jake decided this was enough. They weren't running away, well, the ones that were left, anyway. Also, Danny had gone invisible and whispered in his ear he had recovered just enough to get them out of there. They just needed a distraction and Jake was about to deliver. The dragon inhaled and shot a curtain of fire, so tall it completely got them out of sight. He felt the coolness of invisibility and the tingling from intangibility, before being pulled backwards into the building.

He dragoned down while the halfa flew them to the rooftop, to meet his friends. They landed safely, catching the attention of the two humans there, who immediately ran towards their half dead friend, hugging the rest of his life out of him. He just laughed it off, changing back to his warmer self. The three looked back at the magical protector, wordlessly. Sam just ran towards the asian boy and held him in a breathtaking grip. Almost choking, to be honest. He felt her shake and heard the extremely honest 'thank you' she whispered. The amdrag was at a loss. Nobody had ever had the chance to express their gratitude in front of him, so directly, so personal. He squirmed a little and was let go by the goth, who apparently had been crying if the ruined eyeliner was anything to go by. Jake snorted.

-You know, Danny was crying too.

-HEY! I thought I was gonna die!

-Just messin' with ya. I was trying to lighten up the mood.- And it seemed the mission had been accomplished, since Sam was now laughing a little.

-But seriously, dude, thanks for saving my life down there. … Did you knowingly trash your wings?

-Meh, I kinda hoped they wouldn' rip open… Oh well.

-Wait. You sacrificed your healing wings to save him? Man..

Jake looked at Tuck frowning. What was he supposed to do? Just watch as an innocent was murdered in front of him? It later clicked that for the humans he had probably done something suicidal. Well, to be fair, it kinda had been. But he paid it no mind. A lot of thanking later, including free nasty burgers for Jake, the four kids left for bed.

Inside an office, in a secret room, in a secluded mansion, in the fancy district of Amity Park, Vlad Masters blasted his 'most fruitloopy uncle ever' mug into smithereens. He had stood up from his chair when the dragon had shown up. There was an actual dragon. In Amity Park. And it had contacted DANIEL. Ooohhh this was **SO** not gonna end like this.


	5. Chapter 5

Danny opened his eyes slowly. He still couldn't process the fact that Jake had sacrificed the healing of his wings for him. This was why he had decided to give up the bed. Duty or not, the dragon had saved his life. … or what was left of it.

He sat up and turned to look at his savior. There he lay, snoring, wings showing. Wait, wings showing? The halfa noted the slight shaking, the tossing of the other's head. He was quite agitated, to be honest and Danny wondered if he should wake the other up. But as soon as he got close, the boy in the bed grew scales and fired, his eyes wide open. Both boys stared at the resulting scorch mark on the ceiling.

-Heh, ups?

-You better hope my parents didn't hear that.

-GHOST!

Danny's door flew off its hinges with a kick from his dad, crashing against the opposite wall. He fired green goop at the 'menace' and only then stopped to look at the scene. Twin glares surrounded by said goop were directed at him from the bed and the mattress on the floor. He had the decency to look embarrassed.

-Sorry Dannyboy. I was pretty sure it was a ghost this time around.

-It's ok, dad. At least it wasn't the ectogoop. Oh wait, it was. Now we both gotta get a shower and my room is trashed.

-Well, I didn't get the Apollo….

Danny sighed in defeat. He couldn't get mad at his dad when he looked like a huge little boy. Jack understood what the sigh meant and promised to get the cleaning supplies. The halfa thanked Clockwork that it was Saturday. After his dad left, he floated to erase the remnants of Jake's little accident and after that was done, both boys left for the Nasty Burger. Sam and Tucker were waiting for them there and they didn't want to keep them waiting.

-so you're telling me-started the human boy- that goblins don't steal your left socks?

Jake snorted.-Yo, don't be blamin magical creatures for human carelessness.

-Yeah. With our luck, it's probably a sock obsessed ghost.- answered the goth, to which the blue eyed boy knocked on the table.-... What was that, Danny?

-I heard you gotta knock on wood if you don't want something to happen… seriously: a sock ghost is the last thing we need.

The four laughed after a few seconds. The mere idea was ridiculous. Even with the box ghost around, a sock ghost? Really? They laughed on, unsuspecting of the insect with a red V, that sent live feed of the group of friends to the mayor's office. Vlad glared at the screen. Who was this foreign boy? Did he have anything to do with the dragon? According to his research(which hadn't had many results), dragons protected the magical world from getting discovered by humans, but the attitude this particular dragon had demonstrated went directly against that. It had knowingly placed himself in the line of sight of an entire troupe of human government agents to protect a ghost.

So perhaps this kid controlled the dragon and had befriended Daniel. Yes, that must have been it. This kid must be a sorcerer of some sort and had bonded with the creature to some degree. It wasn't unheard of, a creature signing a contract with a human and becoming their familiar.

He had to get a hold of that boy. Who knew if he could pass the contract upon himself.

But first, he had to create a diversion. Hades forbid Daniel got a chance to stop him before that. He glanced at the container behind him and grinned vampirically. Well, this would prove to be interesting.

Vlad marveled at the efficiency of his plan. He had only meant to release the thing near the group of teenagers, but to his amazement, said being had ran directly towards them and tackled the young halfa when there were no other humans around. It had phased them far away from Daniel's friends, leaving the asian boy defenseless. He couldn't have planned this better, even though he had tried. Both original members of team phantom ran after their friend, leaving the new boy even more vulnerable and it was like taking candy from a child. So of course the mayor seized this wonderful opportunity and snatched the boy away, without anyone there to witness it.

Danny pushed away from the creature, phasing through its teeth and landing across the street. He transformed immediately, taking a fighting stance. His attacker looked …. Like a dog. One enormous black dog with red eyes. Oh, and let's not forget the flaming paws, by the way. Danny cursed his luck. He had never seen a ghost like this. Worst of all, it had caught him entirely by surprise, not even activating his ghost sense. The beast roared at him and pounced. Danny in turn, managed to jump out of the way and blasted the being with an ectoray. The dog landed several feet away, before shaking its head and roaring again at the halfa.

-Dude! You smell like you're dead inside. Then again, you are a ghost.-A low growl was his only answer.-Figured you'd say that.

The ghost suddenly summoned flames out of the ground, separating them from each other.

-What, now you want to run? If you think I'll let you after what you did, then think again!

Phantom flew towards the wall of fire, becoming intangible to pass safely through it. Except he didn't. He had started to pass when the heat singed his hair and he almost burnt his face off. His survival instincts kicked in, making his body retreat immediately. Upon inspecting the damage, he decided he was not about to try that again. Somehow, this didn't feel like normal or ghostly fire. Hell, Jake's fire wasn't this hot. Well, if this hound was using dirty elemental tricks, he was gonna use them too. He covered himself in an icy armor, before melting his way through the fire. The ice had managed to keep him from becoming charcoal, but when he got to the other side, his adversary was already about to chomp his head off. Ice encased his forearm, with which he protected his oh so beautiful face. He threw the massive dog away from him and they both stared the other down. The dog summoned fire again, to which Danny created ice to counter its attack.

Ice and fire crossed paths. The ice put down the fire and it collided with the colossal dog. It went down. Danny grinned triumphantly before slowly walking towards it and uncapping the thermos.

-Thanks for the play date, but now I got to take you back to the pound.

Except nothing happened. The halfa frowned. He shook the artifact a little and tried again. But nothing happened. He activated the thing manually, the glow passed over the panting creature. And nothing happened. Danny double checked. What kind of ghost couldn't be captured by the thermos? He knew even himself was a target for the artifact, so why was this thing not working on the…. Could this thing not be a ghost?

A howl deafened him, forcing him to cover his ears and drop the container. The very hot magical creature was calling for help. The green eyed ghost panicked. The fight had taken its toll on him. He didn't want to repeat it! The ground opened before him and Danny held his breath. In front of him, defending the fallen dog, stood none other than full grown Cujo.

Jake glared at the vampiric looking ghost. Had he been in any condition to fight a ghost, he would have already. The human ties he was in indicated that this guy had no idea who he had caught and the dragon was going to use this to his advantage. He had learned one thing from Fu, and that was to keep his mouth shut just in case and just watch. The ghost had started organizing candles, an altar, stuff like that on the rooftop they were on. The thing that unnerved him though, was that this guy apparently assumed he knew what he was doing and was giving him the silent treatment. When the boy saw the knife, he broke.

-Yo, what's all this for?

-"Yo"? Where in god's name do kids these days learn english? The sewer?

-Hey! Don't mess with my slang and answer the question!

-You think you have the right to make inquiries? HA! You have now idea what is going to happen to you, do you, Jacob?

Jake raised a single eyebrow. That wasn't his name. His name was Jake Jun Long. What was this guy doing, inventing him a longer name than the one he already had? What was next? Jacob Juniper Longberg? This guy was such a joke.

-That still doesn't answer me, hookspook.

Vlad glared at the boy. He had enough nicknames as it was. He decided to ignore the child's antics and proceeded to arrange the elements to the sacrifice. Sure, it seemed weird that the means to pass the contract were to sacrifice the original contractor, but who was Vlad to judge? The boy behind him started yapping nonstop, unmistakably trying to distract him. Well, it was no use, really. The boy didn't need to know for this to work, besides, if he knew what Vlad was planning, he would undoubtedly start struggling.

Jake could already see where this all was leading. The altar, the black candles, the knife, it all lead to only one conclusion. This ghost was going to sacrifice him. Why did everyone want to off him?! Hell, he hadn't done anything to this guy, and he didn't even know he was a dragon! It didn't make any sense. He tried to pry the ghost's attention once more.

-I doubt a sacrifice will give ya whatcha want, considering ya don't even have the ingredients right.

That stopped Vlad in his tracks. He turned sidewise to look at the boy in restraints.

-Beg your pardon?

-Yeah. Ya heard me, Spook. The candles have to be lit with the fire of a bonfire, lit with firesteel and jasper, you actually need a pot to boil the skull of your victim, clay, not metal, and you have to spice the water with cardamom and lots and lots of zaffron.

-... you're bluffing.

-Am not! Well, perhaps about the spices, yeah, but ya never heard of the aztec ritual? The head boiling is just what ya need.

-I am NOT going to light a bonfire. Do you think I'm stupid, boy?

-Just a tad.

Vald grumbled, looking away from the little pest. If he was honest with himself, he was probably doing the world a favour by murdering him.

-'Sides, you ain't got the guts.

Jake suddenly gasped for air, as the black gloved claws tightened around his neck, lifting him up and off the floor. he blinked at the evil grin in front of him as he was hung on the other side of the railing.

-Are you so sure, boy? I could just as easily drop you, getting rid of the ties, and no one would suspect the fact that a kid just jumped off a building. True, it won't be as charming as the ritual, but I doubt your dragon familiar will mind.

Oh, so that's why. This creep had seen him in dragon form and recognized him as a magical creature, relating the dragon to his human form by…. hold on just a sec.

-Why do ya think I have a dragon familiar?

-It was obvious.-no, it wasn't- Dragons don't just show up.-We kinda do.-And to top it off, Daniel got a new friend, you, just as the dragon appeared.

-Woah, hold your horses. Ya sayin ya related a DRAGON to a HUMAN KID because of a HALFA?-Jake felt the hand on his neck tighten with his last word, noticed the slight narrowing of the eyes and the snarl that escaped this guy's lips confirmed his slight suspicion.-You're the other one, aren'tcha?

This seemed to be the wrong time to bring it up, since the other confirmed halfa simply phased the ropes away and opened his hand, letting the boy free fall towards the far far away ground. Vlad heard the boy scream as he fell, turning around to summon the dragon at last. This kid had found him out. He needed to die. He waited for a loud crack, a splat, any sound indicating the boy had met his demise, except none of the aforementioned ever reached his sensitive ears. He turned towards the railing once more, approached it cautiously and as he was about to look down, a blue serpent like dragon flew up right where he had dropped the boy, said pest riding on its back, a sly grin on his face.


	6. Chapter 6

Danny dodged the feral jaws snapping at him. He had never seen Cujo this mad. He dodged the claws swinging in his direction and retreated. How come Cujo was here? Last time he had seen him he had dropped him in the Far Frozen to be healed by Frostbite's excellent medical team. He had to somersault to dodge another snap of the gigantic jaws.

-Easy, boy! It's me!

The green dog stopped growling. His eyes went from completely red to irises. It seemed he had finally recognized the halfa. Danny panted nervously. He wasn't sure if his pup would attack or not. Suddenly, the dogs enormous tongue lolled out and Cujo sat in front of him. The halfa sighed in relief. He knew for a fact he cared about cujo way to deeply and wouldn't attack him out of fear of hurting the dog, also considering his parents had done a number on the poor thing last week. He looked at the overgrown pup and petted his head.

-What even got into you, you mutt? You could have warned me this was your friend without attacking so viciously.

Cujo barked happily, ignoring whatever had happened to him just minutes ago. Danny looked behind him, catching sight of the black dog. He approached slowly, packing away the useless thermos. He knelt in front of the beast, looking it straight in the eye and patted its ribs carefully.

-If Cujo likes you, then you can't be as bad. … I now realize I attacked first, sorry for that. But you gotta admit, being transported in jaws is not usual for humanoids.

The creature looked away. It looked ashamed in Danny's eyes and he chuckled a little. It looked young, now that he thought about it. Like a clumsy teenager who couldn't get his point across. Now, why did that sound so familiar? He heard his name being yelled, just before Sam and Tuck rounded the corner. The goth gasped at the sight, while his male friend approached.

-Danny! What the hell, man? Why is that ghost not in the thermos?

-I came to the conclusion that this guy right here isn't a ghost, Tuck.

-What? how?!

-Well, the thermos didn't work.

-Of course it didn't! That's a Hellhound, Danny!

Both boys turned to look at the more knowledgeable in the trio. She knelt down at the creature's head.

-Hellhounds, apart from protecting magical creatures from getting discovered, help the souls of the fallen get to the other side. It must have felt death nearby and he pounced the deadest thing he could find.

-Gee, thanks for that, Sam.- Answered the whitehaired with sarcasm.

-Oh, shut up, Danny. You attacked the poor

The hound stood, interrupting her. It barked once at Danny, not menacingly, but casually. Like he was saying something totally comprehensible. So of course, when he started walking and the ghost boy didn't follow, the hellhound barked more aggressively, making said halfa drop on his ass. Tucker almost laughed at the way the creature rolled its eyes, just as the thing grabbed their friend by the jumpsuit and pulled, its paws catching on fire as it ran, picking up height and pulling their friend with him. Cujo barked, snatched the humans off their feet, and started digging a hole to wherever it was the other two were going. They didn't even bother screaming at this point.

Jake jumped off of Lao Shi's back. Thank draco he had gotten here before he ended up like a stamp on the ground. He smirked at the half ghost.

-Ok, so ya had the guts to kill a kid. It don't really mean you're able to.

Vlad growled. This kid was way too cocky. and to top it all off, this blue dragon was not the one he had been expecting. The other one had looked young and spirited, whereas this one… looked aged and tired. The creature wasted no time and charged at the specter, in return making the halfa phase through him. It spun in the air and breathed fire towards Vlad. He simply let the fire dance around him. Being a fire based ghost had its perks. Lao Shi charged again. Using his tail as a whip proved to be futile, just like punches, kicks, kung fu, luong fu, nothing worked.

Jake watched his grandfather's onslaught with a shrinking smile. He could see how the sudden fight, after three days of possibly nonstop driving was tiring him rapidly, making his moves predictable, weak, **useless.** He feared that the halfa would end up capturing the acclaimed chinese dragon and then murdering the american one.

Lao Shi panted. He growled at the THING that had threatened his grandson, dared to let him fall to his doom. He had realized a little too late that his attacks weren't having the desired effect. The elderly dragon had tired himself in rage, like a foolish amateur, not stopping to think before acting. Very much like what he lectured his grandson not to do every time. The blue dragon wracked his brain, trying to decipher what he could do to chase away this enemy. Perhaps he should have escaped with his grandson when he had still had the energy to do so, instead of letting dragon hotheadedness take over and guide his actions. It was too late now. His only option was to make this … soulless creature fear for his life. Only … if he was right, this man was already a spirit. The blue skin was a dead giveaway. But the chinese dragon made a fatal mistake. He lost himself in thought, before an enemy that seized opportunities, before an enemy that had no remorse, an enemy without moral, a pissed off enemy that was not **having his way**.

Pink energy emerged from the half ghost's hand, flying towards his distracted grandfather, colliding with his chest, pushing him back against a wall. Jake screamed in despair before running towards the fallen dragon. His grandfather did not get up, he did not respond, neither did he open his eyes. The american dragon panicked as blood started to ooze from the wound.

-That's what you get from summoning the wrong dragon, you petulant child.

Jake looked up in at the figure looming above him. He shook from fear, from the cold that had his heart in an iron grip. The boy stared at the monster disguised as a creature, impotent when faced with something he couldn't touch. He saw the monster raising his hand, pink energy gathering around it and he closed his eyes while he draped his arms around his fallen grandfather. A tear ran down his face.

Vlad had had it. This boy had purposefully called on a different dragon than the one he had wanted. This child had mocked him. He had dared make fun of Vlad Plasmius, take him for a fool, and that was unforgivable. And now that he had fought with this old snake, he realized dragons were useless against ghosts. He'd much rather form an 'alliance' with Aragon, of the Dark Ages, than having to feed an oversized lizard that just so happened to breathe fire. That of course meant that the boy in front of him had lost his purpose. He had no need for a human who knew his secret and certainly, he was to be considered a threat as well. So Vlad opted for the logical path: Killing them both. Except… he got hit in the back by an ectoray. He turned quickly and groaned at the sight. Danny "the annoyance" Phantom floated there, the promise of hell in his eyes speaking volumes for him.

So this was what the hellhound had dragged him here for. Vlad threatening to kill a dragon. Be it that blue dragon Danny didn't recognize or Jake, it didn't matter.

-Are you insane, old man? Dragons are a rare species!

-Indeed. A rare but useless species. I bet their only use is to be a trophy on someone's wall.

-Ew. You've been spending too much time with Skulker, Fruitloop.

The nickname got a fiery response, which Danny dodged. The halfas attacked each other in the sky, a clash between green, pink, blue and red. Electricity crackled between them, making the young dragon underneath shut his eyes. He focused on hi grandfather's breathing, except… there was none. Jake opened his eyes startled. He looked at Lao Shi's chest intently, the blood having stopped to pour. Not because he was healing, but because his heart had stopped beating. His own heart sank.

Danny hit the ground hard. Vlad had actually attacked him full force, meaning he was extremely serious about this. The young halfa couldn't allow it. He tried to get up, but Vlad had stepped on his chest, immobilizing him.

-Stop getting in my way, Daniel! That boy is a menace!

-The only menace here is you! Why do you want him dead, anyway?!

-He knows about hybrids.

-That's it? You want him dead because he found out plasmius is half ghost? Be glad he doesn't know your human half!

-It doesn't matter, boy. Just by knowing about you is enough to put people on my list.

-OOH! He has a list! What're you gonna do? Groceries?

Vlad growled again. This kid didn't understand the dangers of having people know about his secret identity. He'd have to knock him out to proceed. He raised his hand, gathering energy in preparation for his attack, when someone tapped his shoulder. He turned around to see who had, right before a blood covered hand grabbed his face. In between the fingers, he saw Jake. His eyes were yellow, slitted, and sharp teeth had replaced his own. Fire consumed the boys hand, burning the blood on it. He screamed in pain. Fire didn't affect him, true. But this was burning dragon blood, not fire. And it had burnt into his skin.

The older halfa jumped away, trying desperately to ease the sensation to no avail. He looked up towards his aggressor and he saw the scales now covering the boy's entire arm. It then occurred to him that, just like halfas, dragons could take on a human form to stay anonymous. And this boy was the red dragon he had initially intended to possess.

Vlad let go of his face and charged against the red clad boy, stopping only when he realized he had phased through him. He looked back and noticed the black dog. And a very angry looking cerulean ghost dragon. He was in no shape to take on a ghost, a hellhound and the younger halfa.

-Oh, butter biscuits. You win this time, Daniel.

He teleported away. Danny sighed in relief, while Jake ran back to the fallen Lao Shi. He cried silently as the blue dragon lost his scales and reverted back to the old chinese man he called G. The huge pale blue dragon reverted to a medieval ghost lady, who nodded towards Danny, before approaching the other two.

-Holla, mine own nameth is Dorathea. What is yours?

Jake sniffed as he glanced at the ghost. He answered shortly, not in the mood for chitchat. Hell, not in the mood for ANYTHING.

-I hath used to beest a dragon backeth in the day. If 't be true i may?

-Wha?

The young dragon stared at the red eyes in confusion. He was so not good at deciphering middle english. Had she said she used to be a dragon in life? That's when Jake saw the hellhound. It didn't look like the creature was taking his grandfather's soul anytime soon if you asked him. it just sat there, next to a more than just slightly confused Danny. He realized the ghostly woman hadn't moved an inch, as if asking for permission. He shrugged and the gentle smile on her face turned ecstatic. She immediately exposed the wound on the chinese dragon's chest, covered it with ectoplasm that emerged from her hands and lit it on ghostly fire. Jake screeched and tried to put it out, but the hellhound stepped between him and his grandfather's body. Jake yelled at it to move, threatened it, hit it, but when the blasted thing finally moved… was his Grandpa sitting up?

-What on earth happened?

-G!

Danny stared wide eyed at the heap of dragons on the floor. He had never seen a boy so eager to glomp his grandpa and throw him back down. Also, he was pretty sure the old man had been all the way dead. The young halfa raised an eyebrow at the blonde, who just smiled at the scene before them.

-How...? What...?

-Easy there son, you might just trip on all these questions. However, I do wonder myself. How am I still alive?

-Being a apparition did teach me a charm 'r two.

Both dragons turned to the echoey voice, belonging to the lady that stood straight next to the black clad ghost.

-I wilt sayeth, Plasmius did get a fitting punishment. Well done, Jake.

And with that she left.

-What punishment? The burn? That'll heal in less than a day, I'm sure.

-Burn? You managed to burn the specter?

-Yeah… I kinda melted your blood on his face…-Lao shi stared.

-Jake, do you realize what you did?

-Uhhhh…

-You marked him as a murderer. Now every creature that sees him, magical or not, will know what he did.

Both teenagers stared at the old man. Was he for real? Vlad would never again come to Danny's house? Make an appearance as the mayor? Danny looked down, saddened that it had to end like this. The man he had once believed could be a mentor, even if it had only been a day, had finally met the repercussions to his misdeeds. Danny's phone rang.

-Sam?

-Danny! Thank god. Would you come pick us up? Cujo was taking us to you, got distracted with a moth and now we're stuck in the far frozen.

Danny snorted at their misfortune and promised to go get them, leaving the dragons back home, so they could rest. It had been one hell of a day, after all


	7. Chapter 7

The Fentons stood at their door, watching Jake get onto his grandfather's van. Danny and Jake had sneaked him in the previous night and claimed he had arrived while the parents were asleep. Jazz knew better. She had been awake and alert, especially since Vlad's ghost loving cat, Maddie, had shown up at her window, scared for her life. Said cat was now happily snoozing on Danny's bed.

-Are you sure you have to leave this soon, Mr. Luong? You didn't even have breakfast.

-It's ok, Mrs. Fenton. However, my grandson and I are late for a family meeting. Plus we have cookies in the back.

-We do? Sweet!-Jake yelled. Lao Shi took a deep breath.

-Besides, we have taken too much advantage of your hospitality. Thank you for taking care of my grandson.

The elder bowed in front of the humans, the mother and the boy mimicking him.

-It sure is a pity you can't stay longer.

-Yeah! We could have taught you so much about ghosts!

-Mom! Dad! Let them leave! Besides, Jake has already had enough ghost stuff to last him a lifetime.

Lao Shi shuddered. He had had enough ghosts to last him a lifetime. He bet his grandson would get over this, whereas he himself might not. He sure was disappointed that the young ghost who had saved them was not here to say farewell, but he doubted it'd be the last he saw of the spirit. He got in the van, ready to leave, when the young boy Fenton hurried to Jake's window.

-Here. I thought you might want these back home… just in case.

He had handed over a wristband and… a thermos? The chinese dragon decided not to question why his grandson would want that, since the boy looked relieved to get these items and not a lipstick, whatever that meant. Instead, the dragons thanked him and went on their way.

Vlad threw his glass of bourbon against the wall. He had had hell since the encounter with the dragons. not only had Maddie hissed at him for the first time in her life, but his assistant had just ran away screaming upon seeing his face. It didn't matter that he had put makeup on it, hiding the disturbing talon mark on his face. For some reason, anyone he came in contact with would turn away from him upon sight. Something had definitely changed in how people perceived him. He inspected the burn again. He could see each and every scale on his face, the thumb reaching the right side. His nose had been spared, one finger on each side of it, whereas his mouth had been entirely covered by the palm. Two fingers ran across his left cheek and the claws had dug into his skin.

-Boy, do you look like a million bucks…-Vlad spun at the voice.

-Skulker. What do you want?

-... I forgot when your face yelled 'murderer' right in my face.

-Excuse me?

-We ghosts aren't really affected, since we're already dead, but every living creature will fear for their life in front of you.

-That … damn BRAT!

He was already imagining a thousand ways to destroy Jake. How to torture him, monetarily destroy his family and the likes. He'd find a way to rip every scale from his body, leaving the creature a blood covered mess, dehydrate him to the point the boy would look like a raisin. In fact, Vlad was so immersed in his thoughts he almost didn't hear Skulker's next words.

-I wish you had told me there were dragons in your territory. I sure miss fighting those things.

-You faced them in life?

-Damn straight! I was top of my generation in the huntsclan.-The halfa pondered.

-Tell me more.

-So, Jake. What did you learn about ghosts?

The boy looked at his grandfather, a big grin growing on his face, and began his tale. Technology being taken over, a ghost obsessed with boxes, and all of Danny Phantom's attacks. How the boy used his various abilities to protect humans from ill intended specters, and all at such a young age, without any responsibility expected from him, unlike himself. Lao Shi nodded time and again, listening to his grandson's voice. He had feared he'd never do so again when they were fighting that Plasmius character.

-And to think Danny is only half ghost. -The van stopped abruptly, strangling Jake slightly with the safety belt.

-What do you mean, half ghost?!

-Well, remember the kid that gave me a thermos?-Lao Shi nodded- That's Danny's human self. He hides his magic from his human parents, who inadvertently turned him into what he is now.

The chinese dragon sank in his seat. His grandson had discovered a whole new species. A man made species. This was bad. He imagined what the council would say when they reported this and slammed his forehead against the wheel.

-G?

-Cào nǐ zǔzōng shíbā dài!

 **THE END**

 **Hello, my beautiful readers! I sincerely appreciate the follows and favourites. i know it kinda seems like i rushed this thing... i'm kinda rusted in the writing area, but i hope you stick around to read the sequel! 'the most magical city in America', where i deepen the council's opinion on Danny and Vlad gets his shot at... wait, that's a spoiler...**


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